Genome-scale screening of deubiquitinase subfamily identifies USP3 as a stabilizer of Cdc25A regulating cell cycle in cancer.

Conventional screening methods for deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) have important limitations. A loss-of-function study based on the knockout of DUB genes in mammalian cells can provide an excellent model for exploring DUB function. Here, we used CRISPR-Cas9 to perform genome-scale knockout of the entire set of genes encoding ubiquitin-specific proteases (USPs), a DUB subfamily, and then systematically screened for DUBs that stabilize the Cdc25A oncoprotein. USP3 was identified as a deubiquitinase of Cdc25A. USP3 depletion reduces the Cdc25A protein level, resulting in a significant delay in cell-cycle progression, and reduces the growth of cervical tumor xenografts in nude mice. Clinically, USP3 expression is positively correlated with Cdc25A protein expression and the poorest survival in breast cancer. We envision that our DUB knockout library kit will facilitate genome-scale screening of functional DUBs for target proteins of interest in a wide range of biomedical fields.